>> steve: north lawn of the white house, not a fiscal cliff, just a scary slope. >> brian: yes. >> gretchen: let's bring in michelle malkin. she's out in colorado where there is a lot of slippery slopes. usually people are just skiing down those. >> steve: we're falling down this one. >> gretchen: how do you react to what wendell goler said, the phone call between the president and boehner and the president laying down the gauntlet saying, unless you talk debt ceiling and raising taxes, i'm not going to actually come to the table anymore. how come he's not talking about what many americans deem to be the real problem, which is enormous spending? >> yeah. well, that's never been on the table for this president. so that certainly isn't any surprise. and the idea of this power grab, of course, is in keeping with this imperial presidency. it's not just a power grab, it's two-fisted power grab choke hold, give may wrestling move, brian, for what this is. and i'm glad -- >> brian: cross face. >> yeah. whatever. pile driver, i don't know. just something really obnoxious and of course, over the top